15 Fun Facts About Easter You Never Knew

The name "Easter" is thought by many scholars to come from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and dawn mentioned by the 8th-century monk Bede. Others argue the word instead traces back to the Old High German term for dawn.

Unlike Christmas, Easter doesn't have a fixed date. It's celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, so it can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25.

Decorating eggs as a symbol of new life is an ancient practice; engraved ostrich eggshell fragments found at the Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa date back roughly 60,000 years.

The largest chocolate Easter egg ever made weighed about 15,873 pounds (7,200 kg) and stood over 34 feet tall. It was built by the Tosca company and measured in Cortenuova, Italy, in April 2011.

The White House has hosted an annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn since 1878, when President Rutherford B. Hayes opened the tradition to the public.

The Easter Bunny likely descends from a German folk figure called the "Osterhase" (Easter hare), which was said to lay colorful eggs for well-behaved children.

In Australia, the endangered Easter Bilby is promoted as an alternative to the Easter Bunny, partly to raise awareness for native wildlife conservation.

In France, church bells traditionally fall silent from Good Friday until Easter Sunday; legend says they've flown to Rome and return home scattering chocolate eggs for children.

In Norway, it's a popular custom to read or watch crime and mystery stories over the Easter holiday, a tradition known as "Påskekrim" (Easter Crime).

Easter is the second-biggest candy-consuming holiday in the United States after Halloween, and an estimated 90 million chocolate bunnies are produced there each year.

Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé created the first Imperial Fabergé egg in 1885 as a gift for Tsar Alexander III. Roughly 50 of these jeweled Imperial eggs were eventually made for the Russian royal family.

The largest rabbit sculpture made of chocolate stood about 14.8 feet tall and weighed roughly 9,360 pounds (4,245.5 kg). It was built by the Casa do Chocolate team in Uberaba, Brazil, in 2017.

Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday. One popular origin story credits a 14th-century monk named Thomas Rocliffe, who is said to have baked spiced buns marked with a cross at St Albans Abbey in England in 1361.

The largest Easter egg hunt on record took place at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Winter Haven, Florida, on April 1, 2007, when 9,753 children searched for 501,000 eggs.

Pretzels have long been associated with Easter and Lent; according to legend, medieval monks shaped the dough to look like arms crossed in prayer and gave them to children as a treat.

Wearing new clothes and elaborate hats, known as "Easter bonnets," became a popular Easter Sunday tradition in the 19th century, tied to themes of renewal and springtime.

Many familiar Easter customs, including egg hunts and the Easter Bunny, likely blend older pagan spring celebrations with Christian traditions marking the resurrection of Jesus.